Archaeologists have discovered a series of bronze cultural remains in the middle reaches of Luanhe River at the northern foot of Yanshan Mountain in recent years, according to the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology on the 15th. Cultural relics experts said that these findings are helpful to the study on the integration of bronze culture in a wide range from Luanhe River to Xiliao River in the north and south of Yanshan Mountain.
The middle reaches of Luanhe River at the northern foot of Yanshan Mountain is the throat of the ancient cultural area in western Liaoning Province leading south to the North China Plain. Since 2011, archaeologists have carried out archaeological investigations and excavations in the local area, and more than 10 bronze age sites have been discovered, among which two sites in Siquandi and Weijiagou have been excavated emphatically, and another three sites have been excavated, and a series of bronze cultural remains have been discovered.
According to Duan Hongzhen, a researcher at Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Siquandi Site is located in the west of Siquandi Village, Chengde County, Chengde City, Hebei Province. It is a settlement site with a double enclosure inside and outside. The plane is roughly oval, the distance between the double trenches is about 15 meters, and the area inside the enclosure is about 15,000 square meters. There are sites and ash pits in the trench, including 6 excavated sites and more than 30 ash pits. According to the comprehensive analysis of strata and unearthed relics, Siquan site can be divided into two cultural periods: the first period belongs to Xiajiadian lower culture category, and the second period belongs to Weiyingzi culture category.
Weijiagou site is located in the northeast of Sanjiazi Village, Longhua County, Chengde City. Weijiagou remains can be divided into three periods: the first period basically belongs to Weiyingzi culture, only a few ash pits were found, and the unearthed pottery was mainly gray-brown pottery with sand rope patterns. The second phase belongs to the upper culture of Xiajiadian, which is the main remains of the site. The remains are mainly a large number of round bag-shaped pits and a small number of tombs. The third period belongs to the Yan culture of the Warring States, and only a few ash pits and tombs were found.
“The cultural stages of Siquan and Weijiagou sites have constructed the chronological sequence from the bronze culture at the northern foot of Yanshan Mountain to the Yan culture in the Warring States.” Duan Hongzhen said.
Duan Hongzhen said that for a long time, the archaeological work of bronze culture has been concentrated in the West Liaohe River basin north of Yanshan Mountain and the lower reaches of Luanhe River south of Yanshan Mountain, and rich materials have been accumulated, while the middle and upper reaches of Luanhe River at the northern foot of Yanshan Mountain are relatively weak and lack of systematic and complete materials. This archaeological excavation fills some gaps in archaeology in this area, organically connects the rich bronze cultural remains in the south of Yanshan with those in the west of Liaoning, and contributes to the study on the integration of bronze culture in a wide range from Luanhe River to Xiliao River in the north and south of Yanshan. (End)